BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Bakersfield City Ward 7 covers all of southwest Bakersfield from Taft Highway to White Lane. The area faces similar issues to the rest of the city with regards to public safety.
Two of the candidates running for the Ward 7 representative seat on the Bakersfield City Council, Tim Collins and Manpreet Kaur, are hoping to bring change to southwest Bakersfield and give back to the community that raised them.
“I’m born and raised in the ward,” said Collins. “I’ve worked in a couple careers. I worked as a diesel mechanic full-time for 6 years, so I was traveling around the city and Kern County, really getting to know the area.”
Both Colins and Kaur attended Ridgeview High School in Ward 7.
“I’ve grown up in Ward 7. I was born and raised on one side of Ward 7 to the other, and I’ve always had a passion for community work,” said Kaur. “I started a youth nonprofit here locally that served residents and students and families of Ward 7.”
Collins, now working as a teacher, says one reason he’s in the race is because he knows firsthand how crime is growing across the area.
“Crime is a big one. Public safety, property crimes, and everything like that is really important to the people that live there. It’s affecting their lives,” said Collins. “It’s expensive. I’ve just had my catalytic converter stolen off my truck a month ago in front of my house, and this happens to a lot of people there, and many worse things as well.”
Collins says he wants to be able to bring reassurance to Ward 7 with an increase in public safety.
“It really should be the city’s main responsibility to deal with that and to provide safety for everybody in the ward, so I would say that’s the number one issue that people are facing down there that they want dealt with, and that the city should be able to deal with,” said Collins. “That’s what my main priority is to get on the council.”
One of the people concerned about public safety in Ward 7 is Bakersfield resident Patsy Williams. She says improvements to city infrastructure would help reduce some of the risks.
“I think the lighting in a lot of places is bad, and that’s why it’s a lot of hit-and-runs, because you can’t see people before they step out in the street,” said Williams.
Manpreet Kaur agrees with Williams that infrastructure insufficiencies in Bakersfield is an issue, and she wants to do something about it.
“A lot of residents share how even traffic safety is a really big concern,” said Kaur. “We’ve had a few fatal accidents in Ward 7, and so that would be a high priority for me is making sure everyone who’s getting around Ward 7 is doing so safely.”
When it comes to crime and homelessness, Kaur says she would like to continue helping with the world the current council members are already doing.
“I’m also making sure that I’m able to support the ongoing efforts of local law enforcement, and making sure our neighborhoods are kept safe from property crime, and making sure in and around schools there’s safety,” said Kaur. “Those are the three top things I’m hearing at the door that I’d like to address, and make sure I build on the work already being done by the city council members in seeking solutions for all around homelessness.”
23ABC reached out to a third candidate in the race for Bakersfield City Council Ward 7 representative Raj Gill, but we did not hear back from him.